:: Real Life Defined ::

Updated Website :: www.visitreallife.org

2008-06-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Our website has recently been updated to include new information. It has the location of where we will be meeting and has an area where our newsletter and computer backgrounds can be downloaded. The Google map that is found on the Where You Can Find Us page will be extreemly helpful to you in finding us. Bible studies and other information will be posted very soon. Enjoy!

Church in a Box

2008-03-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

This is the epitome of Home Missions. Since we are in the infancy of our church's history, we do not own a building, have a state of the art sound system, or a beautifully decorated fellowship hall.

Therefore the contents of our church are housed in this plastic box. Within it is a large coffee pot, plates, utensils, cups, and other items for fellowship and conducting our meetings.

In addition to this box we used a sound system for the first time. It was no more than my PowerBook connected to some portable speakers. As we gather for the meeting, I used iTunes to play some contemporary Christian music. Then we used Abelton Live for the music my wife used for praise and worship. It takes some getting used to, but it proved to greatly enhance our meeting.

Meeting on March 2, 2008

2008-03-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we conducted our meeting at the Embassy Suites in San Rafael. This was truly a beautiful place for our meeting. My family and I stayed over Saturday night and used a conference room connected to our room.

6 were in attendance as we talked about knowing Jesus.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and KNOWS Me, that I am the LORD…"

If we possess anything in this life, we need to possess a knowledge of God. When we have an intimate relationship with Him, we can then introduce Him to others. During our lesson we talked about a rod used to stoke a fire. If you place the rod into the fire and leave it there long enough, it will become red hot—showing that the heat of the fire has transformed it. Then, whatever you touch with the rod will feel the heat of the fire. In much the same way, if you have been with Christ long enough and truly are getting to know Him—His influence is sure to rub off on you. Those who come in contact with you will feel Christ’s love and divine presence through you—because you have been with Jesus.”

Life's Little Celebrations Part 2

2008-03-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

Another celebration we recently enjoyed was our 8th anniversary.

Last Tuesday we celebrated 8 wonderful years of marriage. I am truly blessed with a special woman for my wife. The Bible says in the book of Genesis that Adam needed a helper. The Lord knows how much my wife has been a help to me. Especially because I need it so much.

I look forward to spending the rest of my life with my one and only love.

Life's Little Celebrations Part 1

2008-03-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

As much as we would like you to think it is this way, church planting is not all about spiritual things. Along the way events happen that are worth celebrating. One of these recent events is the potty training of my son.

Why would I put this on my blog you ask? Because to me this is a great achievement.

While my wife was at Western District Ladies conference, I worked with Micah to get out of diapers. I am happy to say that He no longer wears them! We are so proud of our little boy.

New Meeting Location

2008-02-20T15:46:00.000-08:00

Previously we met at the St. Vincent de Paul building in downtown San Rafael. This past weekend we enjoyed a new location for our meeting; in a meeting room at our hotel. It worked out great except that that the room was semi private. During the meeting a gentleman walked in to get coffee and enjoyed one of our donuts. We are looking in to other hotels within the city to accommodate our by-monthly meetings. When we locate a more permanent location, we will post it.

Also, we are very thankful for Sis. Ivy joining our group. She was a blessing to us this weekend!

Recent Visit to San Rafael

2008-02-20T13:54:00.001-08:00

Over the Valentine's Day weekend we loaded up the van and spent 3 1/3 days in San Rafael. We had a great time visiting this beautiful city and the surrounding area. Most of the time we spent in the city of San Rafael. However, we also saw San Anselmo, Ross, Stinson Beach, Corte Madera, Novato, and North Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Our purpose was to locate a new facility to hold our meetings and to survey the city for potential crusade and outreach sites. We found that San Rafael, for being a small town, has a little bit of everything. From multi-million dollar hillside homes to condominium projects. This city has a mix of upper, middle, and lower class neighborhoods. In addition this city has a diverse types of landscapes. It has green hillsides, beaches, a quaint downtown and business district, and a canal.

From the south end near San Quinten State Prison to the northern boundary by Northgate Mall and Lucas Valley, we found numerous sites that could be beneficial to outreach and crusades. As far as a building to hold the crusade we looked at the gym of centrally located San Rafael High School. Boyd Park appears to be great location for outreach. It is a quaint park near the western edge of downtown and the business district. Other potential areas for outreach are Montecito Shopping Center, Northgate Mall, Domincan University, and other parks throughout they city.

We will continue to research these locations and others as we prepare for outreach within the city. In my next entry, I'll talk about potential sites for hosting our meetings.

Bringing You Up to Speed

2008-01-07T23:00:00.000-08:00

A month has past since our initial post. In the future I will be more vigilant in managing this blog. Let me take the opportunity in this post to recap the last 6 months in the process of planting Real Life Church.

In July we began a fund development campaign by communicating our vision in a letter to friends and family. That same month we also relocated in the middle of July to Turlock. Our stay in Turlock is a transition phrase in our church plant project during which we are making necessary preparations such as; selling our house, raising support, incorporating, etc.

My in-laws, Henry and Patty Sagayno are wonderful people. I will be eternally grateful that they allowed us to spend these past few months in their beautiful house.

We didn't spend much time in our new home because as soon as we moved in, we preached a junior camp in Section 11 and then went from there to Camp Meeting in Santa Maria. Senior Camp subsequently was next on our agenda. We came back from Senior Camp only to live out of a suitcase for another week in Madison, Mississippi. There we attended the Apostolic Conference primarily sponsored by Parkway Pentecostal Church. This conference was specifically tailored for home missionaries. I thank Bro. Jerry Dillion for his vision to host this event. We definitely left Mississippi inspired to reach San Rafael for His glory!

The week we returned from Mississippi, we visited a contact, Robin, in San Rafael who works with the homeless. We arranged to have a meeting on September 30th which was the next day after I returned home from General Conference in Tampa, FL. The image in this post is of a sign hanging in the room where we conducted our first meeting.

Our first service in San Rafael was one of the proudest days of my life. It was a small group of people. We didn't have an elaborate building or a powerful choir, but we had church. My message was on Jeremiah 29:11 and I spoke about God having a plan to build a church in the city of San Rafael.

Since this first meeting, we have had 7 more meetings. Our next one will be on Sunday, January 20th the day after I return from St. Louis where I will be at mid-winter board meetings for the General Youth Division of the U.P.C.I.

As I continue to post to this blog, I will fill the many details that complete the mosaic of our experience that I have just outlined.

Welcome to Real Life Defined!

2007-11-12T23:24:00.000-08:00

Blogs take time. Writing down the thoughts that reflect the content of your heart takes time and effort. Both of these commodities seem to be at a premium these days due to high demand for their services. However, I wish to spend some time to share with you a little from my experience. Some of my postings will be funny and others maybe more serious.

In all they will provide a small window for others to peek inside the experiences of a church planter. So much has happened in the life of my family these past six months, that it could literally fill up a book. Fortunately, I will not bore you will all of the details. I will just share the crumbs.

I was told the other day that if God orders the steps of a godly man, He also orders the stops. This statement is so true when you follow after the voice of God. It seems like it is a journey of ups and downs. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

I suppose that this process really reveals your motives, purpose, and character.

With this is mind, I will begin this blog with a summary of what the past few months have been like for the Caballero family. Then I will do my best to update it as new events occur along our journey. I believe that this blog will be an encouragement to many because it not only will be a commentary on the challenges and triumphs of church planting, it will also in its own way reflect the difficulties and successes that we all face in life.